The visual effects of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story were a hotly debated and discussed part of the first spin-off story from the rest of the Star Wars saga. While Industrial Light and Magic brought to life the usual space battles, planet environments, aliens and more that we’ve come to expect from the visual effects studio, they also essentially brought a deceased actor back to life with a digital recreation of Peter Cushing (played by Guy Henry) reprising his role as Grand Moff Tarkin from Star Wars: A New Hope.

This was quite a point of contention, both due to debate about whether it was appropriate or ethical, and also because there was quite the divisive opinion about whether the visual effect actually looked good enough to use so prominently. However, Peter Cushing wasn’t the only actor digitally recreated for Rogue One. Carrie Fisher also saw a younger, digital double of herself created for the final scene in Rogue One, and she couldn’t tell whether it was archival footage from Star Wars or a visual effect.

Find out more about the Princess Leia visual effects in Rogue One after the jump. Read More »

Now that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has been in theaters for a few weeks, Disney, Lucasfilm and the crew behind the sci-fi saga spin-off are starting to reveal some of the secrets behind the making of the movie. Just recently the film’s editors discussed the reshoots and a unique pre-production process, and now a story from Nightline reveals one of the most simultaneously impressive and unsettling elements of Rogue One.

Rogue One features the Star Wars: A New Hope character of Grand Moff Tarkin in a key supporting role as an adversary of sorts to Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). However, rather than having another actor simply play the part on-screen, Lucasfilm decided to have actor Guy Henry create a motion-capture performance where digital effects were used to essentially bring the late actor Peter Cushing back to life in the role he famously played back in 1977. Many have wondered just how this was achieved, and now a report from Nightline takes a dive into the process of how it was achieved. Read More »

Millions around the world, probably billions, have seen Rogue One: A Star Wars Story now. It’s already pulled in over $573 million at the worldwide box office, and it’s going to take in a bunch more as we head into January. However, not everything regarding Rogue One has been praiseworthy. In fact, there’s one element of the Star Wars spin-off that has been rather controversial and discussed extensively.

Rogue One features the resurrection of the late actor Peter Cushing as Imperial officer Grand Moff Tarkin, thanks to the magic of motion-capture performance and visual effects. For some it was a distraction that didn’t quite do the trick, but others weren’t even aware that the character was a digital recreation of a deceased actor. Today we have official details on how this came to be and what Lucasfilm intended to do if they couldn’t adequately recreate Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One. Read More »

The star of last week’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Storytrailer was undoubtedly Jyn Erso, the “reckless, aggressive, undisciplined” rebel fighter played by Felicity Jones. But surrounding her is a cast that looks positively stuffed with potential scene-stealers, like the imposing figure played by Ben Mendelsohn. There’s not much we know for sure about the character at this point, other than that he’s some sort of high-ranking Imperial officer with an uncanny talent for keeping his white cape clean even as he drags it through the mud.

Which, of course, just means there’s lots and lots of room for theories and speculation. After the jump, let’s run down some guesses about who this mysterious Ben Mendelsohn Rogue One character might be. Read More »